POULSBO – Liveaboards in two marinas on Liberty Bay will vote on annexing themselves into the Port of Poulsbo’s governing district over the next few weeks.

Port commissioners called the vote a chance for residents of those marinas – the port's own marina near downtown Poulsbo and Liberty Bay Marina – to give themselves representation in the port government. Liveaboards in those marinas haven’t been inside the port district’s boundaries and haven’t been able to vote in elections for port commissioners, Commissioner Mark DeSalvo said.

A piece of the port’s marina is already part of the district but if residents approved the measure, the rest of the marina would be added to the district, and all the new residents would be able to vote on district measures and elections.

Only residents of the proposed annexation areas – about 50 individuals, DeSalvo said – will vote on whether they want to join the port’s district. The annexation wouldn’t mean any new taxes for those residents or additional revenue for the port, DeSalvo said.

“The liveaboards are probably one of the most dynamic and important parts of the marina both for safety and cleanliness,” DeSalvo said. “They’re advocates and are policing everything that happens there. Them not being part of the port district I think is a mistake. We want them to have a voice. They have a pulse on what’s happening better than anyone.”

Residents living in the Poulsbo Yacht Club’s marina are already part of the port district and can vote in port elections.

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2016 FILE
Port of Poulsbo dock hand Sam Hughes carries a coiled hose down the dock after spraying off the Guest Moorage docks at the marina on Tuesday, March 22, 2016. (Photo: MEEGAN M. REID)

Said Commissioner Jonothan Saunders: “Even though it may be a small amount of people that it affects, it’s important that the entire community is part of our port, specifically people who are on the water, who are near the water.”

“For some reason these two spots with all these people were left out of the original taxation, voting area,” he said. “These are not only residents of Poulsbo but they’re also boaters. They’re active people who need to have a stake in their local port district. For me, it’s important to have all those people involved. This enables them to have a voice, to vote on issues and run for office if they decide to.”

The port has attempted two larger annexation attempts in recent years and both ballot measures failed.

In a special election in 2014, voters turned down the expansion, which would have grown the port district by more than 2,400 properties, by a 74-26 percent margin. Port commissioners scaled back the expansion by three neighborhoods and tried again on 2016 general election ballots. That attempt, too, was turned down, by a 56-44 margin.

With those annexation attempts, port officials said they’d be expanding the port’s borders to the areas of the Poulsbo community that benefit from the port and that those additions would bring in more tax revenue to pay for improvements to the port’s marina.